7 Ways To Win Back A Customer (Plus FAQs)

It’s common for customers to stop purchasing from a company for a variety of reasons. Being able to recapture lost customers’ interest and convert them back into paying clients is important for building your brand’s reputation and securing customer loyalty to help improve your profits. Understanding different methods for winning customers back can help if you’re looking to implement customer reacquisition techniques into your workflow. In this article, we explain when you might want to win a customer back, review seven ways to do so, and explore some frequently asked questions about winning customers back.

When to win back customers

There are a variety of instances in which you may want to win back customers, and you may have an opportunity to do so any time you lose one. You can implement one or several customer win-back strategies to reengage lost customers any time you want, but you may choose to when you’re looking to increase your customer base, launching a new customer acquisition campaign or releasing new products that may appeal to former clients. You may want to win back customers in any of the following situations or a combination of them:

• A customer chooses to buy from another company.

• The company you work for receives negative press.

• You require a specific number of new customers.

• The company you work for revises marketing or advertising plans.

• A cheaper version of what you offer releases.

• The company you work for launches a new product or service.

• You are required to fulfill a certain number of purchases.

• A company’s brand, image or reputation changes.

7 ways to win back customers

There are a variety of methods and strategies you can use to win back former customers. Here are seven techniques you can implement to win back customers and generate more business:

1. Publicly claim responsibility for mistakes

Taking responsibility for a company’s actions and what caused customers to leave can help win these customers back. If the company you work for makes a mistake and loses customers, it might be necessary to claim responsibility for the mistake publicly. Acknowledging the company mishandling a situation and making things right can communicate to customers it cares about them and values their service.

2. Offer discounts, promotions, and other savings deals

In a scenario where increased costs of products, programs or services you offer led a customer to leave, offering savings deals can help win them back. If the company you work for requires you to maintain higher costs than former customers expected and were comfortable with, implementing this method may help win them back. Offering monetary-based deals, such as quantity discounts, buy-one-get-one-free opportunities, free items with purchase, low-cost items and free shipping, for instance, may attract former customers back to the company and make up for the loss.

3. Contact them personally

Contacting lost customers can help you win them back by showing them you truly care for and appreciate their business. You may reach out to the customer via phone, mail or email to learn about why they left. In this message, explaining you realize the customer left for a valid reason may be necessary to let them know you think they’re reasonable and thought the decision through. This can help show respect for the customer. Stressing that the company misses the customer can make your message feel more personal, which may make them more likely to listen to you.

4. Reduce costs

In some cases, the rising costs of a product, program or service that a company sells is the main reason a customer leaves a company. If you raise the price of something so much that a customer doesn’t find enough value in it, they might stop buying from you and become a customer of a company that offers what they feel is more for their money.

If you find this is the reason you lose customers, consider reducing the costs of these products if possible. Try to contact customers to gain an understanding of how much they’re willing to pay for the product and decrease its costs to that amount, which can allow you to maximize revenue without forfeiting a customer.

5. Ask for feedback

A willingness to gain insight into why customers left can help you win them back. It’s important to inform former customers you’re interested in learning why you lost their business. Creating surveys or crafting messages in which you ask them to give you feedback can help you gain important insight into your customer retention and reacquisition strategies. Doing so can help you improve your business strategies, including your marketing, customer service and advertising methods.

6. Provide new products or upgrades

If you find customers leave because you’re not offering the most upgraded or relevant products, programs or services, consider seeing whether it’s financially practical for you to start selling those. Offering updated, more relevant versions of popular products may win back a customer. After creating and launching these upgrades, try starting a marketing campaign to share with the public the company’s released new products to help attract even more business.

7. Start a marketing campaign

If you lose customers because of a lack of exposure, you may benefit from some promotion and advertisement. Launching a marketing campaign can help win back former customers and attract new ones. Creating marketing items that convey the value and benefits customers can receive from using certain products, programs or services you offer can help you communicate to the public that your products are valuable and effective.

FAQs about winning back customers

While executing the customer reacquisition process, you may have some questions about how it works and what to expect. Here are some frequently asked questions about winning customers back:

How long does it take to win back a customer?

There isn’t a consistent amount of time it takes to gain back a customer, and the time may depend on each customer, which strategy you use, and how many people you’re targeting. Based on this, it can take you days, weeks, months or years to secure your business again. This may be because of the time it takes to identify you’ve lost a customer, the number of techniques you implement to win them back, whether the customer feels ready to shop with you again, whether they can afford to do so, if they want to and when they can return.

What are the benefits of winning back a customer?

There are a variety of benefits you can receive if you win back a customer. These benefits may impact a company’s finances, overall reputation and place in the market. For example, winning back a customer by demonstrating your value to them may encourage them to give you positive reviews and references online, which can help persuade their friends or family to become customers, too. Other benefits may include:

• Increase of profits

• Larger customer base

• Wider reach

• Better image or reputation

• Increased customer loyalty

What does it cost to win back a customer?

There isn’t a set cost of winning back a customer, but companies typically allocate a certain amount of funds to use on customer acquisition and reacquisition in their yearly budget. How much you spend largely depends on which strategy you use to win them back, along with how much value they would provide. For example, posting about a deal on social media might not cost you anything, but funding a new marketing campaign could have higher costs.